In Copenhagen, US Policies Don't Stir People Up

It's our last full day in Denmark, and today we'll drive up the coast to Elsinore and Kronborg castle, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Being in Scandinavia has made me think a lot about the priorities here versus what I am used to in the US. I've had this same feeling traveling in Europe from time to time, where I felt that the things that matter most to people and government here are closer to my heart.

The people put the priority into transportation systems that are truly sustainable and reasonably clean for the environment. They pay taxes of about 50% here in Denmark, but get back free health care, university, subsidized daycare, a system of railways, buses, bike paths and trams that makes having a car unnecessary. Their government is not leading them with out of synch war efforts in faraway lands, but instead, spending their tax money in far less objectionable ways.

Despite what our US administration is doing to make us cringe, and wish we didn't have to answer for them, no one here has said a thing about GW Bush or our war folly. Not a peep, not even an offhand remark. As has been the case so many times in Europe, whatever sentiments against our government may be on people's minds just isn't polite to share with us. We find ourselves bashing Bush but no one rises to take the bait.